


Nedrošs

by NotAMidget



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Runaway, Running Away, arthur is a good dad, ivan is the bad guy in this story, not everything is going to make sense, protect raivis, sorry because i know lots of people don't like people making him out to be evil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 15:44:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotAMidget/pseuds/NotAMidget
Summary: The smallest of the three Baltic nations, Raivis had never really been the strong one. He tended to speak or act without thinking, and this always got the poor boy into trouble with his boss, Ivan. Toris and Eduard had always tried to correct him when he did something wrong, but poor Raivis couldn't help himself.Raivis couldn't stand Ivan. He couldn't stand the scary smile he gave him when he had done something wrong. He couldn't stand his height and how he always towered over him. He couldn't stand the cold Russian winters he had to spend inside of that house because of the below freezing temperatures that forced him to stay inside.He wanted his life to change.Late one night, Raivis decided that if he wanted things to change, he'd have to make them change himself. With everybody in the house asleep, he snuck off silently to start a new life for himself. One without Ivan.He just had to stay hidden from Ivan's peering eyes to avoid being sent back.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Hetalia fanfic I started. I haven't gotten very far with it, and I'm not as into Hetalia as I used to be, but maybe I'll continue it if I get the motivation or if anybody wants me to. The chapters are also very short, oops.

The cover of darkness offered the small boy some protection as he shuffled through the  
thick heaps of snow. It practically hugged him from the knees down. It was a cold, unwelcoming embrace that seemed like it was pulling him down, similar to the hugs he got from Ivan. Still, he trudged on. Away from the big house, away from his coworkers, who were fast asleep, and, most importantly, away from the one who controlled him, who lay in bed, unbeknownst to him that Raivis was fleeing.  
The chill seeped through his clothes, burning into his skin. A numb and raw feeling  
overtook his legs, enough to make the average person turn around and retreat. After all, what torment could be worse than losing the feeling in your legs, all alone, where nobody could find you if you were to collapse? To Raivis, returning was his last option. Returning meant more fear, more tears, more paranoia… It meant more Ivan.  
So he trudged, bearing the intense Siberian chill that gnawed away at his pale, tender  
flesh under his trousers, and marched on and on through the snow. He held his hands in his pockets, fumbling with the rubles in his pocket. Raivis had been gathering as many as he could for months. This was something he had been plotting for a long time. Though it wasn’t anywhere close to being enough to sustain himself wherever he went, he assumed he’d find a way when he arrived to… wherever he was headed to.  
Though the ground was coated in thick snow, the sky was without a single cloud, and the  
moon shone down, making a path for him. It was coaxing him forwards. He didn’t turn back, his mind was clear of all thoughts. He knew he just had to flee, to escape… He desired freedom from the Russian man. It was all he could think about.  
How long had he been walking? Hours? Days? Weeks? He had no idea, yet he hadn’t  
had time to stop, unless it was to shovel some snow into his mouth to keep himself from dehydrating. He knew where he was heading, however. He was heading for a popular railroad, one that could lead him out of Russia, and away from the tall Soviet forever.  
Forever. It seemed as though he had been walking forever. He was losing feeling in his  
legs. The sun had risen and fallen since he had left, and it rose again. Two days had passed, and surely everyone knew he was gone. This time, it illuminated something that caused Raivis's heart to pound through his ribs and out of his chest. The train station. He bolted down the path, almost slipping on the snow. He saw the steam puffing from the locomotive, and sighed in relief. He ran straight up to the man who was about to send the train off. He frantically pulled out the rubles from his pocket and waved them in front of him.  
The man took his money, before gesturing the short Latvian onto the train. Tears filled  
His blue eyes as he shuffled down the aisle, plopping into an empty seat. He pulled his bag in front of him, pulling the zipper open. As soon as his bag was open, he removed his gloves and shoved them inside. He quickly reached in and patted around, feeling a plastic bag, and pulling it out. Inside of the bag was some crackers. He had planned to eat them on his journey to the station, but never was able to settle down. His stomach growled in anticipation. He opened the bag and shoveled some of the crackers into his mouth. They tasted bland, but bland was better than nothing.  
The young boy stared out the window, half expecting to see Ivan, with that smile on his  
face. Not a smile of happiness, or sympathy… A twisted smile, filled with threat. Yet as he scanned the station, he did not see his familiar dull hair, nor his long scarf covering his neck, or even his condemning lavender eyes.  
The conductor yelled something in Russian that Raivis couldn’t quite understand, yet he  
assumed the train was about to be sent off. When the train slowly started to move forwards, squealing on the metal tracks below, that assumption was confirmed. This was it. He was finally free.


	2. Chapter Two

It wasn't until Raivis saw the station pass by him that he started to doubt his decision of  
leaving. What am I doing? He was leaving his friends behind for his own good. Was this really what was right? To leave them behind…  
I should turn back, he thought, as he closed the bag of crackers. I should go home. He  
tried to shove the thoughts out of his head. No. He'll be angry. His shoulders quivered as the train puffed and sped forwards, gaining momentum. This was what he had wanted… Who knew he'd feel guilt for escaping?  
He leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. Images of Eduard and Toris  
flashed by, and he almost choked on the remorse. Along with Toris… the scars on his back. He remembered Ivan, and the pipe, and a shudder slid down his small body.  
Luckily, since Raivis was the youngest, he hadn’t met the pipe as much as his comrades. However, he expected he'd end up meeting it more if he remained where he was. Remembering the violence that Ivan had… it reminded him why he left in the first place. A bit of the regret faded away, and, with the churning of the wheels in his ears, he drifted off into a slumber.  
He awoke to the squealing of metal on metal as the brakes rubbed against the wheels. The train slowly eased to a stop. He winced at the unpleasant sound in his ears, picking up his backpack. As the movement, and the piercing shriek of the locomotive, ceased, he stood up. Along with the other people in the car, he filed out. When he walked outside, he was taken aback by how different this place was from Russia.  
He was in a park, the green grass contrasting from the snowy tundra of where he had just escaped from. Flowers poked their heads from the field, facing upwards, welcoming the sun. He wasn’t even sure where he was, but he didn’t care. He felt safe just being away from Ivan. It was comforting, not having him looming over his shoulder or pressing down on his head.  
When he spotted a salesman at a stand, selling fruit, he dug into his pocket. His blood went cold with fright as he felt nothing in his pocket. Idiot, he thought to himself. He had forgotten to take extra money. What was he to do?  
His stomach rumbled, and he walked over to a birchwood bench, opening his bag, and taking out the crackers. There were only a few left, which made his heart beat a bit faster with worry. What would he eat when his food ran out? Still, he reached in, grabbing a cracker, and bringing it to his lips, sparingly taking a tiny bite. If he didn’t think of something, he’d starve to death. How ironic. He might starve to death just after finding his own freedom. He sighed, and, typical of when he got nervous, he started to tremble.  
Deciding to try to get the thought of death out of his head, the Latvian dug through his bag for the small book of poetry he took with him. Grasping it, he pulled it out, and observed the cover closely. He inhaled, before emitting a deep sigh. It smelled like Russia. Raivis winced, not wanting to think about “home”, nor Ivan, or even Eduard and Toris. He opened the book, his eyes scanning through the text. Though he was reading, he couldn’t exactly focus. His mind was filled with ideas on how to make more money. Maybe he could sell what little he took with him… What he took did matter a lot to him, but his own life mattered more. Slowly, he slipped off of the bench. There had to be a retail shop around somewhere, right?  
He slipped down from the bench and looked around. There was a small gathering of stores down the path out of the park… Maybe he could sell his book there. Would it even be worth a lot? With small footsteps, he shuffled ahead, down the path, clutching his book in his hands, his bag hanging on his shoulders.  
His eyes fell upon a sign. Bookstore, he thought to himself, and approached the door. He peeked in through the glass, before pulling open the door and wandering in.   
There were books everywhere, which excited him. He loved reading, and it was what he did to relieve his stress after an episode with Ivan.   
The small foreigner gazed around. There were a couple people here, somebody behind the counter, and a few browsing the books. It was almost completely silent, aside from the quiet hum of the air conditioner cooling the shop. He scanned the store. When he saw a sign pointing to the poetry section, he couldn't help himself from wandering over. He passed a few aisles of different books.  
As he shuffled into the poetry section, he gazed around at all of the books. Their titles were in English, which was a bit odd to Raivis, as he always read poetry in books written in his native language: Latvian. He wondered if English poetry was as good as poetry in his language.  
Focus, Raivis, he told himself in his mind. You're here to sell your books, not get more of them.   
He exited the poetry section and began to wander towards the counter. He passed by different sections.   
Mystery, romance, fantasy.., he counted off in his head. However, he halted as he walked past the fantasy aisle, stopping right in front of the thriller section. He had seen someone familiar while passing that row.  
Curiously, Raivis peeked into the fantasy aisle. Inspecting a book was a young man. His short, blond hair stopped above his thick, darker eyebrows. His green eyes moved left to right as he read the back of the book.   
“Um..,” murmured Raivis. He couldn't think of what to say. He wasn't loud enough, though, as the man continued scanning the back cover. However, the man noticed him when he tucked the book under his arm and turned to leave the fantasy aisle.  
He stared at him for a while, before his eyes lit up with recognition. “...Raivis?” he said in a thick English accent. “Latvia?” he added after a moment of silence.  
“Mister England,” Raivis replied.


	3. Chapter Three

“Mister Arthur.”

This earned a smile from the blond Englishman and he walked over, looking down at him.  
“What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Russia with Ivan?”  
Raivis’s expression changed from surprised to nervous with that comment. “I am, I… I am, but…” Raivis gulped, trailing off. “I kind of ran away.”  
Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Ran away?” he repeated, giving the short Latvian a frown. “I don't think Ivan will be too happy about that…”  
Raivis sighed slightly as a shiver slid down his spine. “I know, but… I mean… I think I'll be fine,” he said, followed by a shaky laugh.  
“Right…” He turned to look at the bookshelves. “So, are the others here with you? You know, Toris and Eduard?” he questioned. He pulled a book out from the shelf, studying the spine and the back cover.  
“Um, no,” Raivis murmured, biting his lip. “I couldn't tell anybody. I mean, um, I probably could have, but… You know… I didn't want to risk anything.”  
“Risk anything?” repeated Arthur. “Raivis, aren't they your friends? You can trust them, right?”  
“I can… I'm pretty sure I can. But… What if one of them accidentally said anything to Mister Ivan? Or what if he heard me tell them?”  
Arthur nodded. “I see… I understand why you'd want to be cautious about Ivan.”  
Raivis always tried to be cautious around the Russian man, but with how clumsy he was, and with how bad he was at saying the right things, he always seemed to upset him. He remembered the last time he had upset him and shuddered. “Mhm…”  
There was an awkward silence between the two, before Raivis spoke up again. “Well, um… I should probably be going. I came here to sell my book. So, maybe I'll see you around sometime.” Raivis offered a smile, before turning around. “Have a nice day, Arthur.” He began to walk out of the section.   
“Take care, Raivis,” replied Arthur. He watched as he left the row of books, before something clicked in his mind. Something that he had forgotten to ask. “Excuse me, Raivis, before you go…”  
Raivis turned around slowly. “Oh, what is it?”  
“Do you have a place to stay yet?” he questioned, and tilted his head.  
“...Um, not really… B-But I'm sure I'll be able to find one.”  
Arthur thought to himself, rubbing his chin. “So where will you be staying?”  
“...Nowhere, I guess. I could just sleep in the park.” Raivis smiled nervously.  
Arthur’s lips pulled into a small frown. “That hardly seems safe when you're in hiding from somebody. He could find you while you're asleep, and in the dark, you wouldn’t be able to see him coming.” Raivis tensed up, imagining waking up and hearing Ivan’s voice in the dark, beckoning him, innocently patronizing and teasing him. He gulped loudly. Arthur’s frown turned into a smile seconds after. “How would you like to stay with me? I'm sure it's a lot less dangerous than sleeping in a public park.”   
Raivis instantly lit up. “You mean… You'd let me?” he said quietly, astonished.  
“Why not?” Arthur replied in an optimistic tone. “I mean, I did care for Alfred and Matthew when they were young, didn't I? Besides, I'd hate to see you have to go back with Ivan.”  
Raivis just stared at him for a few moments, processing everything. After a couple of seconds, he smiled up at the blond man. “Thank you so much, Arthur…” Arthur nodded in reply.  
“I've gotten what I need, so let's hurry along.” Arthur walked out of the aisle and towards the checkout counter, Raivis following along.   
This was when Raivis remembered that he had come here for a reason: to sell his book of poetry. Slowly, he brought it out from under his arm. He looked down at the book, his fingers lightly brushing the Latvian title. He had kept this book for many years. Now that he had a place to stay, however, he wasn't sure if he wanted to give it up.  
Raivis wasn't exactly paying attention to where he was going, so instead of stopping behind the one person in line for the checkout counter, he bumped into them from behind. The person promptly turned around, looking down at Raivis from behind her glasses. She was an elderly woman with short white hair and pale skin.  
“O-Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry, ma’am,” he stammered quickly, blushing with a bit of embarrassment.  
The old lady gave a small laugh in return. “That's quite alright,” she responded. When she smiled, the wrinkles in her cheeks and under her eyes became more apparent. She then turned around to pick up the bag of books, before leaving through the door.  
Arthur and Raivis stepped up to the counter which stopped at Raivis’s shoulders. The Englishman slid two books onto the counter, both of which looked like fables. As the man at the counter was looking over the books and scanning them, Raivis looked over the cover of his own book that he had brought.   
Did he really want to sell it? He thought about it for a minute. The book held a place in his heart. He had read it over and over and many of the poems had engraved themselves in his head. Still, he needed some money, in case staying with Arthur was just a short term arrangement.  
His train of thought was interrupted when he heard a voice. “Raivis. Raivis, we need to go now,” prompted Arthur.   
Raivis flinched and glanced up at him, then back down at his book of poetry. “O-Oh, sorry. Give me a minute,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. He slid his book onto the counter.  
The cashier read the title, before flipping the book and scanning through the back, rubbing his chin in thought. He opened the book and flipped to a random page, scanning through it quickly. “Hm, I don’t recognize this language. What language is this?”  
“Latvian,” Raivis replied simply. “From Latvia.”  
“Well, Latvian isn’t a widely spoken language here. Or anywhere besides Latvia, right? I’ve never met anyone who spoke Latvian… I’m not sure I can accept this book.” The cashier slid the book back over the counter to Raivis, who took the book back. “I’m very sorry.”  
Half of Raivis was relieved he didn’t have to give up his book which he was very fond of. On the other hand, he was nervous that he hadn’t been able to sell it. He was exceptionally lucky that Arthur had taken him in, however. Had he not allowed poor Raivis to stay with him, he would have had no money.  
“I-It’s okay,” he stuttered in response, mustering a small, nervous smile.  
Arthur was already standing by the doors, waiting for him. “Come along,” he said, in a friendly tone. Raivis nodded, looking towards the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper waved slightly with his fingers. Awkwardly, he waved back and walked after Arthur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the three complete chapters. I have a sliver of the fourth chapter, but it's unfinished. If you would like me to upload the part that I have of it, or continue it, please let me know.


End file.
